From TES issue 56 (March 2009)
Series 3
Quest: The Crown.
Dungeoneer: Simon II.Advisors: Deborah, Mark and Claire.

Home town: Horsham, West Sussex.
Team score: 5 out of 10.

What a tiny bunch of tots this lot were! (I seem to remember saying that before in this feature…) Sandwiched between Cliff and Leo, this quest is rather easy to overlook, but now at last it’s about to get its moment in the spotlight.
Level One: After rolling the die as usual and narrowly escaping a [bomb room] blast, Simon meets Golgarach in the clue room. The team manage to answer all three questions correctly, proving that they’ve been paying attention at school. With maximum information from the wall monster, they have no trouble in selecting a gauntlet and a candle from the table, rejecting a ruby.
In the Corridor of the Catacombs, Grimwold the ogre spots Simon and starts chasing him. A quick scare at the pit of Khar the cobra leads Simon to the Vale of Vanburn, where Mr Grimwold pursues him relentlessly along the path. At the end of the valley, Velda accosts Simon and asks him to give her the mark of the challenge to prove that he is really on a quest for truth and justice. Simon throws down the gauntlet, earning Velda’s trust; as a result, she kicks Mr Grimwold in the privates, which is enough to dissuade the ogre from pursuing Simon any further.

Next, the candle is required to light up the ledge that used to play host to the Troll, but is now surrounded by purple mountains. Simon almost takes a dive off the cliff, but he just about manages to make it through the door in one piece. In the wellway room, Mrs. Grimwold tries to direct Simon straight into the slavering jaws of Festus, but the advisors are more than canny enough to stop him from following the witch’s instructions. Mrs Grimwold then extends her sincerest apologies for trying to trick Simon, and points him in the right direction for the well. In no time at all, Simon is falling into level two.

Level Two: After jumping off the Spindizzy and successfully exiting underneath the symbol of the Crown, Simon enters the Hall of Spears. There are no major problems here, although two skull ghosts appear to molest Simon as he runs across the spear-paths.
The level two clue room follows, and it is here that the team is presented with a situation that proves to be its undoing. Simon discovers an Amulet of Invisibility on the clue table. However, unlike the one that Steven discovered in series 2, this one does not have an accompanying glove in which to hold it when invisibility is not required. Consequently, the advisors find themselves directing a white shimmering star instead of their dungeoneer, which is a difficult task that they find quite impossible. The sneering face of Hordriss appears on the wall of the clue room, causing Treguard to urge the team to make a hasty exit, whereupon the insurmountable issues with guiding the star become obvious.
The first cave of the Cavern Range follows, where two goblins are mooching around. However, as they are unable to see Simon, they slink off without trying to attack him. Simon then puts down the amulet for a moment so that the advisors can check his position, which seems to have little in common with the whereabouts of the star a second before, it has to be said. Unfortunately, they then proceed to guide Simon out of the open end of the cave, and he plummets to his doom, still in the form of a star. The poor little things – this distinctly tricky task was just too much for them!
Summary: A very young team who were obviously all a bit wet behind the ears. The fairness of their death has been discussed at length, but whatever you think about it, they didn’t do too badly.

[Previous team: Team 2 of Series 3
Next team: Team 4 of Series 3]

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